The Mauna Kea Visitor Information Station’s free monthly program, “Malalo o ka Po Lani,” will be held on Saturday, March 17, 2012 at the Onizuka Center for International Astronomy Visitor Information Station’s presentation room, beginning at 6:00pm. The presentation will take place for approximately one hour, with our stargazing program following shortly thereafter.

From Niuolahiki, the ancestral coconut tree, to `Ulu Ku who saved his family from starvation, to `Ohi`a-Lehua, the lovers who could not be parted, there above the treeline of Mauna Kea, Manu Josiah and storyteller Leilehua Yuen will share mo`olelo, ka`ao, chant, hula, and song of Hawai`i’s trees.

Come up for Malalo o ka Po Lani, Hawaiian Culture Night on Maunakea, for an evening of Hawaiian music, chants, stories, and science as we learn how the traditional Hawaiian relationship with the sky guided the relationships with the land and sea. After the program, join the star party on the Onizuka Center lanai!

Each month, a different Cultural Practitioner shares perspectives on an aspect of Hawaiian culture, history, and or arts relating to the natural history of Maunakea. The “Malalo o ka Po Lani” cultural program is held on the third Saturday of every month in the Ellison Onizuka Center for International Astronomy Visitor Information Station’s presentation room at the 9,300 ft eleveation on Mauna Kea. For more information on programs at the Mauna Kea Visitor Information Station please visit our web site: www.ifa.hawaii.edu/info/vis or call us at (808) 961-2180. Aloha.